Ralph worked with Abramoff to prevent US worker safetly laws from being implemented in the Northern Marianas Islands. I never really understood the back story on this particular aspect of the Abramoff scandal. The Washington Post gives some insight today. It wasn't just corruption.
The Reed/Abramoff team claimed in 1999, importing Chinese workers was a way for them to become "exposed to the teachings of Jesus Christ." I don't claim to know the bible the way Ralph does, but I don't remember anything about Jesus promoting the sex-tourism industry:
A year earlier, the Department of the Interior -- which oversees federal policy toward the U.S. territory -- presented a very different picture of life for Chinese workers on the islands. An Interior report found that Chinese women were subject to forced abortions and that women and children were subject to forced prostitution in the local sex-tourism industry.Yes, that's what the boy wonder of the Christian Coalition was defending.
It also alleged that the garment industry and other businesses set up facilities on the Northern Marianas to produce products labeled "Made in the USA," while importing workers from China and other Asian countries and paying them less than U.S. minimum wage under conditions not subject to federal safety standards.
